“The Walking Dead: Season Two continues the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the zombie apocalypse. Left to fend for herself, she has been forced to learn how to survive in a world gone mad. Many months have passed since the events seen in Season One of The Walking Dead, and Clementine is in search of safety. But what can an ordinary child do to stay alive when the living can be just as bad – and sometimes worse – than the dead?”

The Walking Dead Season 1 was easily one of the best, most memorable games of all time for me as a gamer. So it stands to reason that Telltale Games needed to bring everything they had to the table for the second season, and I am glad to report they did and then some more! It would seem that Telltale is using the first episode more as a prologue for things to come, rather than the first chapter to a new season, you get the feeling that the game is pushing you in that direction while playing the first chapter and setting you up for something big the rest of the season.

First thing I noticed is the improved interface system which now borrows elements form Telltale Games other game “The Wolf Amongst Us”, which I have to admit I enjoy using more than the first season of The Walking Dead’s interface. The quick time events have also received some changes and work a lot more like The Wolf Amongst Us, with big red arrows and buttons popping up dead centre in the screen. Making them easier to spot when you are making those hard choices during the game, and trust me there are some really tough ones in the first episode of season 2.

You can argue that these new changes make the game easier to play, but they really don’t in fact I think it makes making these choices even more difficult as it now is in your face and not discreetly hidden in a corner. The game has also received a big visual upgrade in the environmental department. Plants and grass now bends and rustles as you move through them, lighting effects can now also be seen as you walk in front of candle lights and sit in front of a dying camp fire. It’s just an incredible looking cell shaded game and compliments the rest of game really well.

The voice acting is, for the most part, very good. Every performance is very emotional and believable, the most noticeable improvement is that of Clementine. Melissa Hutchison has really upped her game in the second season as Clementine now sounds more mature and confident than she sounded in the first season. And why wouldn’t she be? Surviving the horrors she had encountered during the entire season one of the game, and in this aspect Melissa’s voice acting really shines through. There are a few rough patches from the other characters in the game but that is to be expected.

The innocent little girl we came to know and love in the first season is no more. And following the events of the first season Clementine has become hardened zombie apocalypse survivor in a world where all of her friends keep on dying around her while she watches. There is a particularly disturbing scene in episode 1 where she sews up a wound using only a needle, fishing wire and some bandages while fighting off a zombie in the process. You can even go as far as blackmailing people and tell them to go screw themselves if they do not want to help you.

I really had my doubts about The Walking Dead: All That Remains, especially when hearing that you will be playing as Clementine throughout the entire second season. But after playing the first episode of the second season I can confidently say that Telltale Games have put those doubts to rest. Also Telltale Games really do know how to sell a “next episode” preview, as we get to see someone return from the dead as we can only speculate who that is. I definitely cannot wait for the next episode to be released, so bring it on Telltale Games!

2 Responses to The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 1 [Review]

I just played it; I didn’t like it, in fact, I just laugh at some of the scenes that was supposed to be serious. I had my doubts when Telltales said you will be playing as Clem, and I was right I never understood why people liked her so much. She pretty much made a boring protagonist in this episode, and her charm that she had in season 1 is pretty much gone now.

Telltales should have focus on the characters from 400 days instead of focusing on one character. We could switch to multiple characters even if Telltales didn’t do that it would be a lot better to focus on them since we had a look into their past, and they could have been more fleshed out with more important decisions that would affect the group.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen instead the focus is on a boring overrated character with even more dull characters around her. All that untapped potential that could have made this season really awesome was thrown out of the window.

This episode is the weakest in the series hopefully the next episodes are better this is kind of reminding me about what happen to the TV show it had a decent first season but the rest after that was crap, there is only so much you could do in the zombie genre before it gets old really fast.